St Andrews academic shortlisted for Britain’s foremost history prize

Professor Chris Given-Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of St Andrews, has been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Wolfson History Prize for his book Henry IV.

The winner will be announced at a reception in London on Monday 15 May and will receive a prize of £40,000.

Awarded annually by the Wolfson Foundation for over forty years, the Wolfson History Prize has become synonymous with celebrating outstanding history. First awarded in 1972, it remains Britain’s foremost history prize, promoting standards of excellence in scholarly history for a general audience. Previous winners have included Antony Beevor, Ian Kershaw, Antonia Fraser, Simon Schama and Mary Beard.

Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, Paul Ramsbottom, said: “All the books on this year’s shortlist are united by their brilliance, combining the highest scholarly standards with lucid readability. We hope that this year’s Wolfson History Prize will shine a light on even more books, and also encourage debate about what makes brilliant, accessible history.”

Background information

Professor Given-Wilson will be discussing his book on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme on Tuesday 9 May at 10pm (available as an Arts and Ideas podcast from the Radio 3 website thereafter).

Henry IV by Chris Given-Wilson is published in hardback by Yale University Press at £30.

First awarded by the Wolfson Foundation in 1972, the Wolfson History Prize remains a beacon of the best historical writing being produced in the UK, reflecting qualities of both readability and excellence in writing and research. Over £1,000,000 has been awarded to more than 90 historians in its 45-year history. More information is available on the Wolfson Foundation website.

The Wolfson Foundation is an independent grant-making charity that aims to promote the civic health of society by supporting excellence in the arts & humanities, education, science and health. Since 1955, over £800 million (£1.7 billion in real terms) has been awarded to more than 10,000 projects across the UK, all on the basis of expert peer review.

The Wolfson Foundation is committed to supporting history and the humanities more broadly. Since 2012, awards across the UK of more than £10.7 million have been made to 135 Postgraduate Scholarships in the Humanities at universities, and some £11 million to museums and galleries, as well as numerous awards for historic buildings.

Issued by the University of St Andrews Communications Office, contactable on 01334 467310/2530 or [email protected].